The Dutch Design Week

Welcome back on this new Monday ... we had such a nice time in Singapore during the weekend with our dear friends, Jenny and Will and their three fantastic children ... although everything was a bit hectic and busy, Jenny and I were still able to visit some shops I really wanted to see, but more about this tomorrow ...

Today I'm so happy to start with a great report from the Dutch Design Week 2008, written by a very talented artist from the Netherlands, Janneke Zantinge. Janneke has a children's label called Hikje and during this year's Dutch Design Week she presented her gorgeous new 'Little cranes' .. tomorrow I will show more of her new work on B:Kids ...   

Janneke's report from the Dutch Design Week 2008:

Textile designer Julie Maeseele was inspired by the 'Crying gipsy boy' .Why is this Icon of sentiment but also of bad taste nown all over the world, and makes a house feel like home?! I think this beautiful rug is definitely sending the message! Also the beautiful setting is making me want this in my own living room!

I love it when designers create new materials, like Mieke Meijer together with design label Vij5. They made wood out of newspaper! It's not only as strong as regular wood, its also really nice looking I think!

During the graduation galleries at the design academy there were some innovative designs. I especially liked some of the cabinets, like this one of Nathan Wierink of ontwerpduo. The cabinet is called 'What it is, it isn't inspired by Alice in wonderland. When you see this cabinet, its totally strange, but when you look threw a special lens, you see a normal cabinet....but, what's normal...
on the right side ... Another extraordinary cabinet I spotted is 'Glammore' made by Willem de Ridder. He says appearances can be deceptive. Underneath this luxurious-looking cabinet with its richly decorated golden key, lies a simple and cheap pinewood construction. It's all an illusion...  A very different but beautiful project, is real/limited, by Katharina Mischer. This project is about objects that visualize our finite natural environment. Endangered animals and plants are translated into limited editions of products. This fungi shelf is made out of rotten wood coated with resin with a rare mushroom species on top made out of pewter.   

Somewhere else in Eindhoven I saw these really cute birdhouses by krejci. They look as if they are made out of cardboard, but actually they are ceramic!

   Finally I saw this really cool mobile bench by designer Rogier Martens. You can put this bench wherever you want because of the wheelbarrow system! I think it would look great in your garden, but I think I want one in my living room!

Thank you so much Janneke
* * * Hikje
* * * Janneke's online shop